"First Look at Our Campaign Plan"

April 25, 2011

Campaign Manager Jim Messina has just sent a message to supporters sharing a campaign strategy presentation with folks. The briefing sets out how we can work together to build an unprecedented grassroots organization to win in 2012.

I want to show you a quick presentation I've been giving to the first staff coming on board here in Chicago, outlining our strategy to win and our overall approach to this campaign.

In the weeks and months to come, we'll ask grassroots supporters like you to meet with one another and local organizers to take the first steps to victory on November 6th, 2012.

But before we begin meeting in living rooms and backyards across America, it's important that we communicate with each other about a set of principles for the organization and our overall strategic thinking about how the race will shape up.

The most important aspect is this: Our campaign will be grounded in President Obama's experience as a community organizer. This notion of ordinary people taking responsibility for the organization at the neighborhood level is not only the way to win, it's also the way politics ought to work. Our campaign will be an example of innovation and efficiency, but it will also be an example of civic engagement at its best and most rewarding.

Have a look at the briefing, then share it with your friends and neighbors and ask them to help build this campaign with us.

This plan will evolve as we get feedback from grassroots supporters like you over the weeks and months ahead. That's already happening—as you know, we've already started the process of having one-on-one conversations with people in every state to gather thoughts and ideas, and thousands more talks will take place over this spring and summer.

But this briefing should give you a sense of our current thinking about how we'll build an unprecedented grassroots campaign to win—with you leading it.